The Green Industry's Resource Center

GMLC · #71 06-05-2012, 02:39 PM

I would like to update everyone ASAP on the Stens high lift flat blades. I will not and can not recommend these for northern grasses. Honestly the worst blades I have tried in 15 years! I have never had a blade drastically change the performance of a deck like these. The discharge pressure dropped dramatically causing the deck to clog and clump. I spent all morning cleaning up this mess! Cut was at 3.75" on a fescue/KBG mix, took off about 2 1/2" and the grass was wet. These pictures are after double cutting but before me cleaning up by hand!!

ProStreetCamaro · #72 06-05-2012, 04:35 PM

That is very strange. Must have something to do with the 52" deck. I have been using them since 2008 on a 60" xfactor deck. Kind of blows my mind TBH. The blades are almost identical to the oem blades. Only difference is the oem has a slight hump in the middle and less cutting surface.

This is a customers overgrown jungle. The grass was damp with dew and pretty tall here. They need to get the beds cleaned up. They treat the lawn but could care less about the beds.

This was right after we had almost 2" of rain.

Right after we bought our house. The lawn was way overgrown here. I did double cut this to clean up a little debris laying on top.

watsmi57 · #73 06-05-2012, 04:54 PM

i am using a Bobcat hi-lift notched blade. they are 10.99 each at my dealer

GMLC · #74 06-05-2012, 05:07 PM

Im going to have to measure these Stens blades to find out whats going on. That is after I dig them out of the trash!
Posted via Mobile Device

ProStreetCamaro · #75 06-05-2012, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GMLC

Im going to have to measure these Stens blades to find out whats going on. That is after I dig them out of the trash!
Posted via Mobile Device

Yeah something seems off. The design is only very slightly different than the oem blades. Ariens owns gravely and stens.

GMLC · #76 06-05-2012, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtmower

Could you not correct this either due to not being able to get it into transport position? I'm going to have to drop my deck a little still. At 1/8" off from the gauge, it's all I can do to get it to latch and unlatch. My wife can't even do it. With 1/8" pitch it did a pretty nice job. Emailed my rep and he recommends 1/4" pitch, which with the OEM humped blades will put it off by a little over 1/4" from the gauge. If the straight blades work better and I switch to them this will offset the inaccuracy a little.

Yesterday I tried cutting a small area that had not been cut yet this year and was tall (12"-15"), stalky, and not very thick and it left skippers even at slow speed which surprised me. The deck did have a good deal of clippings packed under it so this may have been part of the cause.

My transport position works fine, I checked my deck but it didnt need any adjustments. I left it at 1/8" front pitch. Personally I am happy the height is only an 1/8" off from the gauge. In my experience most mowers are way off, like an inch!

mtmower · #77 06-05-2012, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GMLC

My transport position works fine, I checked my deck but it didnt need any adjustments. I left it at 1/8" front pitch. Personally I am happy the height is only an 1/8" off from the gauge. In my experience most mowers are way off, like an inch!

I know it's not a big deal but it just chaps me that we spend upwards of $12-$18k on a mower and they can't get something as simple and needed as a correctly set height control gauge. Shoot I've bought vehicles for less that travel 70 mph all day, heat, a/c, tunes, carry people and cargo, quietly, comfortably, and safely. Not to simplify too much, but a mower needs to go, stop, and cut grass nicely and accurately. It's all in the details. I know it's not just Gravely and other people have commented about other brands having the same problem and if it were just a matter of an adjustment I wouldn't care. But when it's build so that it can't be adjusted properly and still use transport mode then it's just poorly thought out.

GMLC · #78 06-05-2012, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtmower

I know it's not a big deal but it just chaps me that we spend upwards of $12-$18k on a mower and they can't get something as simple and needed as a correctly set height control gauge. Shoot I've bought vehicles for less that travel 70 mph all day, heat, a/c, tunes, carry people and cargo, quietly, comfortably, and safely. Not to simplify too much, but a mower needs to go, stop, and cut grass nicely and accurately. It's all in the details. I know it's not just Gravely and other people have commented about other brands having the same problem and if it were just a matter of an adjustment I wouldn't care. But when it's build so that it can't be adjusted properly and still use transport mode then it's just poorly thought out.

I definitely would not be happy if my transport lock was not working easily. I'm hoping its something simple for you to adjust?

mtmower · #79 06-05-2012, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GMLC

I definitely would not be happy if my transport lock was not working easily. I'm hoping its something simple for you to adjust?

It looks like the flat part of the deck brackets that the adjusters are mounted to are making contact with the bottom of the frame. I thought about grinding a little off the lock finger/pin of the transport lock but haven't gone that crazy yet. Still want to play with a set of straight blades. If I end up with straight instead of humped this will also change things very slightly.

GMLC · #80 06-05-2012, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtmower

It looks like the flat part of the deck brackets that the adjusters are mounted to are making contact with the bottom of the frame. I thought about grinding a little off the lock finger/pin of the transport lock but haven't gone that crazy yet. Still want to play with a set of straight blades. If I end up with straight instead of humped this will also change things very slightly.

I didnt have much luck with the straight blades. It appears the 52" stens blades are not as close to OEM specs as the 60" stens are. I hope you have better luck than me. I did look at some older Gravely reviews on here and many said the OEM blades had the best cut with the x-factor deck. I want to try the fusion high lift notched. Its just me being cheap..I should just order a few sets of OEM blades and keep them sharp. My thinking is the X-Factor deck is very picky and I know excels with really sharp OEM blades. It must also be picky with different blade designs?